Lions made Brock Wright sweat prior to matching 49ers' offer sheet hours before deadline

Allen Park — The decision to join the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2021 has made Brock Wright a lot of money, while the team's decision to match a three-year, $12 million contract offer he received from the San Francisco 49ers will help him keep more of those earnings in his pocket.

Still, the Lions made Wright sweat a little during the five-day window they had to match, waiting until 2½ hours ahead of the deadline to inform the young tight end of their decision. It was to the point where Wright was checking out what his living situation might look like out west.

According to Realtor.com, the average cost per square foot of a median home in San Francisco is nearly $1,000. It's $817 in San Jose, which is actually close to where the 49ers play their home games in Santa Clara. But compare that to $454 per square foot in affluent Metro Detroit suburb Birmingham, and it was an understandable sigh of relief when Wright got word he would be sticking with the Lions.

It's been a good match for both sides, with the team getting unexpected production out of the Notre Dame product who caught just seven passes during his college career.

Wright was asked to play a bigger role in the second half of his rookie season, getting promoted off the practice squad when the team mutually agreed to part ways with veteran Darren Fells in early November. Playing a little more than 300 offensive snaps down the stretch, Wright finished with more catches as a rookie, 12, than he had during his college career.

Wright served as Detroit's No. 2 tight end in 2022, but again had to take on a larger role down the stretch when the team traded away starter T.J. Hockenson. Wright finished with 18 receptions, 216 yards and four touchdowns, including a memorable game-winner in the closing minutes against the New York Jets.

Wright returned to a complementary role last season following the addition of Sam LaPorta in the draft. Still, Wright continued to see more than 30 snaps per game as a block-first option in Detroit's offense.

"I’ve said that multiple times now, by far, it’s the best decision (initially signing with Detroit) I’ve ever made," Wright said on Tuesday. "Looking back on it now, I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunity to come here and (have) things work out the way we planned and hoped that it would." 

Prior to receiving the offer sheet from San Francisco, Detroit extended a tender to Wright as an restricted free agent. That one-year tender was worth nearly $3 million and was what gave the team the right to match an outside offer.

But the tender wasn't guaranteed, while the multi-year contract comes with $4.6 million in guarantees. It also benefitted the Lions by lowering Wright's 2024 cap hit to $1.76 million. In fact, his $2.63 million cap hit in 2025 is less than the Lions would have paid him this season, had he made the roster as expected.

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

@Justin_Rogers